Maybe It's Time to Come Home
by welcome to maddieland
Summary: AU. Massie's always been one of the alphas of Orlando, but when she moves to Westchester, it's there that she really feels that she's home. Massington.
1. Chapter 1

**Pairing**: Massington

**Disclaimer**: All characters are property of Lisi Harrison. Setting is AU.

**Notes**: This was one of the first stories I ever wrote for the Clique archives. While reading old emails during work, I realized how much I missed this story and these characters and how I wanted to revisit it. So this is Maybe It's Time To Come Home, revisited and retweaked. Enjoy!

* * *

It's only 7 pm on a Friday, but Bree and Ana are already emptying Mr. Pincher's liquor cabinet into their Louis Vuittons.

Sometimes the kids at school ask me why Ana and Bree go so hard on the weekends. I always tell them that they need a way to cool off after all their honors classes during the school week. Of course, I'm the one doing all their honors homework—History and English just don't come naturally to the girls.

So the real reason they're already taking shots off Ana's bathroom counter? They're functioning alcoholics, just like the rest of the kids at Lakeside Prep.

"Okay, okay," Bree slurs. She's five shots deep, and I know that if I don't hide the Absolut bottle from her soon, she'll start getting the spins. "Whose house tonight?"

"Jeremy won't text me back," Ana whines.

"So we'll go to Tyler's," Bree snaps. "Jeremy's still mad at you for puking on his dog last weekend."

"Don't remind me," Ana giggles and stumbles into the shower. I catch her and prop her up.

"Don't fucking touch me," she snaps, pushing me into the toilet. "You're such a goddamn buzzkill, Massie."

I've heard worse from them before. I'm the third wheel, the whipping girl. The useless one. I'm also wealthier than the two of them put together, and that's why they keep me around.

"Somebody has to drive you, remember?" I say gently.

"No!" Bree yells. "I want to drive myself!"

"Race you!" Ana shrieks.

"Guys, please," I beg, but they've already taken off through the front door.

Technically, we shouldn't be driving at all. But like most parents in our tiny Orlando suburb, the Pinchers have already bought Ana a Mercedes, two years before she'll even get her license. The neighborhood police just look the other way when she drives it to the mall on the weekends.

I don't know how, but they've found the keys. And now they're starting the car.

"Get it, loser!" Ana yells, revving the engine. I crawl into the backseat and pray that this will be okay. Tyler's house is four blocks away. We won't even be leaving the neighborhood.

"Please just be careful, you guys," I beg. Ana backs out her car and promptly knocks it into the neighbor's trash can.

"You're distracting me," Ana slurs. "I wish you weren't even here, you know? I wish you would stop weighing us down all the time."

"You act like you're above everyone else," Bree hiccups. "Fucking prude. I'm Massie Block. I don't drink or smoke. I don't let guys touch me. I'm keeping my legs together until I'm married. Grow up and have a fucking drink."

"Guys, watch out," I say. Bree curls her perfectly manicured fingers into tiny fists.

"That's it," Bree says, and she sounds almost sober in her conviction.

I don't realize what she's doing until it's too late. As Ana speeds up, Bree reaches into the back seat, opens up my car door, and pushes me out the side.

I should have worn a seat belt, I realize as my body hits the pavement.

-_four months later_-

To: massiekur

From: sexysportsbabe

Subject: chilly scenes of winter

I swear, if we get one more inch of snow up here, I'm declaring this place the New North Pole and learning Eskimo language.

How's physical therapy going? When do you get your stitches out?

-x-

To: sexysportsbabe

From: massiekur

Subject: Re: chilly scenes of winter

I'd kill for some snow right about now. It's five days to Christmas and it's still 80 degrees out.

Physical therapy is what it is. My head stitches won't come out for another five weeks. I wonder if I'll ever be able to wash my hair with actual shampoo and water ever again.

So remember that Big Important Talk that my parents pulled me aside for last night? Turns out it was about where I'll be going to school next semester. I obviously can't go back to Lakeside, so I figured they'd sent me to Locke or the public high school. But they want me to go somewhere where the kids don't know what happened to me and why.

So they said that they knew how close I was to Nana and Granddad. And they see how much I email you, and they certainly never hear me shut up about "my friend Kristen from the cruise." They want me to go somewhere where they know I'll be away from Ana and Bree, somewhere where I'll still be with family but already know people my age.

They've already enrolled me at Octavian County Day. I'm moving to Westchester!

-x-

To: massiekur

From: sexysportsbabe

Subject: Re: chilly scenes of winter

NO FREAKIN WAY

YOU'LL BE LIVING HERE? GOING TO OCD FOR HIGH SCHOOL? MEETING ALL THE PEOPLE I'VE TOLD YOU ABOUT?

This is the best Christmas present I've ever gotten. That's AMAZING. I stalked down your grandparents—turns out they live two streets over from me, also in Pine Parks. Did you know that your granddad does News 12 Westchester with Dylan's mom?

Send me your flight info asap, I wanna be there the second you step off your plane!

omg I just can't get over this

-x-

Massie Block carefully shut her Macbook, giving a small smile as she looked around Terminal 6 of the Orlando International Airport. In all her 14 years of coming here, the people were always the same: bratty, Mickey Mouse-ear sporting, sticky little kids with their tired tourist parents, all wearing Columbia fishing shirts and beaten-up Keds. Ana and Bree would have turned away in disgust at such a blatant display of middle-class living, but Massie didn't mind. She'd seen enough people during counseling to know that there was so much more to life than a monogrammed Jon Hart bag.

"Massie?" Kendra Block murmured. "Your phone's ringing."

Massie's pale, nail-bitten hand reached into her Lilly Pulitzer carry-on tote and snatched up her ringing iPhone. The caller I.D. read, "Ana Pincher".

"You've reached Kathy at Planned Parenthood, how may I direct your call?" Massie snickered into the phone.

"Oh, shut up Massie, where have you been this whole morning? You weren't at Starbucks, you weren't in the courtyard, you weren't even hiding out in Barnes and Noble like the bookworm little loser you are—"

"Ana, I'm at the Orlando International Airport."

"What? I thought we talked…you said you wouldn't do it, that you wouldn't move!" It was the first time Massie had ever heard the girl utter the faintest trace of concern for her.

"My mom thinks I need a fresh start," Massie began, annunciating every word. "She thinks the people at Lakeside are a bad influence and that a new environment would help."

"And why the _hell_ would she think that?" Ana snapped, as if she and Massie hadn't gone over this several times before.

"You know why, Ana," Massie sighed, frustration saturating her tone.

"So what? Bree went to rehab, I went to juvenile detention center, and you had just a couple of cuts on your head."

"Ana, I've been in physical therapy for four months. The doctors have had to operate on my fracture twice. I've been in homeschool this whole semester. It's been so much more than a couple of cuts. We're through. I'm leaving."

Massie dropped her phone back into her bag and sighed, involuntarily rubbing the stitches just above her left ear. Kendra looked at her daughter in concern.

"I think you made the right choice, you know." Kendra said, putting one arm around her daughter's thin, tense shoulders and using her free hand to turn Massie's phone off.

_8:45 flight for Westchester County, New York boarding in 10 minutes. Repeat: 8:45 flight for Westchester County, New York boarding in 10 minutes. Unaccompanied minors, please report to any nearby personnel to help you board._

Kendra gasped. "This is it!" Massie gathered up her bag and leaned in for a goodbye hug from her mother.

"I'll be okay, Mom," Massie whispered. "I'll make you proud. No trouble in Westchester."

"I trust you," Kendra stated simply before releasing her daughter into the hands of a frumpy flight attendant.

Massie had ended up at the back of the plane, in a window seat with nobody next to her. Once she was adjusted in her seat and got over the overwhelming scent of airplane food and coffee breath, she promptly fell asleep.

When she slept, she dreamed, and she knew that it would be the same nightmare she always had. As always, it started out with her in the backseat of Ana's Mercedes. Massie felt her stomach lurch as Bree pushed her out of the car, but instead of tumbling onto the pavement, this time she flew gently out the window before landing in Kristen's front yard.

Massie's eyes snapped open as the plane began to dip and shudder. She slid open the airplane's window shutter to find a cloudy blue morning. She smiled, not only because she was finally in Westchester, but because the nightmare she'd been having for the past two months had finally turned into a sweet dream.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes**: Thank you for the positive feedback! I love reading y'all's reviews.

**Disclaimer**: All characters are property of Lisi Harrison. All mentioned organizations are fictional. Inspiration for this chapter was taken from Kate Brian's Private novels.

* * *

She'd never quite had a welcome like this before.

Nana and Granddad stood at the front of the arrivals gate, clutching a big sign bearing the message, "Welcome home, Massie!" Nana, perfectly coiffed as usual, looked as spry as ever, and Granddad's smile reached all the way to his bright blue eyes. He held a giant bag of Three Musketeers in his free hand, a throwback to the Christmases where he and Massie would go through a whole box of the chocolate bars in one sitting.

Then, there was Kristen. After a year and a half, the dirty blonde still hadn't changed: her blue eyes were still bright, her hair fell down to her shoulders in curly waves, and her toned arms and legs were pumping as she ran full speed towards Massie, scooping her up in a hug.

"Kris," Massie managed to choke out, her amber eyes swimming with happy tears.

"Mass," Kristen shrieked. "I can't believe you're really, actually here!" The girls broke apart and Massie got a good view of the other people who had come to greet her at the Westchester County Airport.

Even though she'd never met any of them in her life, she could name each person: Dylan was the rosy-cheeked redhead with the bright emerald green eyes, sucking down a milkshake from Chik-fil-a; Claire was pale, slender girl with an alluring smile, big navy eyes, and brown-blonde hair piled on top of her head, eating Sour Patch Straws; Chris Plovert was the tall blonde with piercing blue eyes; Kemp had the build of a linebacker and a goofy grin; Josh was tall, dark, and handsome personified; Derrick was the kid with tousled brown hair hanging towards the back.

Massie was rarely one to let guys fluster her. But there was just something about Derrick Harrington that made her breath catch in her throat. She had seen him before in pictures that Kristen had sent her, but in real life, everything about him was so much sharper and focused: the way his shaggy hair fell into his wide brown eyes, the freckles across the bridge of his nose, his lean build, and his laid back demeanor. It all hit Massie with the force of a full-blown crush before she'd even said two words to the guy.

"Massie, darling, we can't even begin to say how happy we are that you decided to move up here," her Nana gushed, pulling Massie into a firm hug.

"Glad you made it up safe, kid," her Granddad said, handing her the bag of candy.

"Granddad!" Massie squealed, feeling a lot like her 7-year-old self as she was enveloped into yet another hug. She pulled away to find herself face-to-face with Claire.

"Hi, I'm Massie, but you probably already knew that," Massie introduced herself. Claire reached out to shake Massie's hand. There was something about the way that Claire carried herself that made Massie think that Claire was the bitch in charge around here.

"I'm Claire Lyons. It's nice to finally meet you," Claire said, giving Massie a genuine smile. "This is Dylan Marvil, whose mom, Merri-Lee, does the news with your granddad. And these dorks are Chris Plovert, Josh Hotz, Kemp Hurley, and Derrick Harrington." Each person waved as Claire said their names, except for Dylan, who gave a loud burp.

"Niiiiiiiiice," Chris chuckled, extending his palm for a congratulatory high five. Claire rolled her eyes while a laughing Dylan high-fived him. Out of the corner of Massie's eye, she spotted a skinny boy with dark brown hair and green eyes rushing towards the group.

"Oh, and this is Cam Fisher," Claire greeted Cam with a loving glance. "My _boyfriend_ of 3 years." Claire shot Massie a look, pausing to see how this sunk in. The girl's glare clearly said _he's mine. _Massie narrowed her eyes in return. She perfectly understood boundaries and when not to cross them.

"Massie," Nana said, bringing her granddaughter's attention back to her. "We've got to leave now if we want to avoid the traffic. You'll have plenty of time to talk to your new friends later, okay?" Massie nodded and turned back for one last hug from Kristen.

"I'll come over to help you unpack later, kay?" Kristen said. Massie nodded. As happy as she was, she couldn't help but feel exhausted.

As she walked away with her grandparents, Massie looked back for another glance at her new friends. She saw Dylan and Josh flirting heavily and Kemp, Chris, and Kristen laughing and pushing each other around. But what really caught her eye was Derrick and Cam staring at her as she left.

She most certainly was not in Orlando anymore.

-x-

Kristen arrived to help Massie unpack nearly two hours later with Derrick and Cam in tow. As interested as she was in getting to know the boys, all she really wanted to do was flop on her new bed while Kristen put away her sweatshirts and caught her up about life.

"Hey, I'm Cam," the green-eyed boy announced as he burst through Massie's grandparent's front door, shaking his dark bangs out of his zit-free face. If he hadn't been taken, Massie might have been crushing on him as well.

Derrick pushed past Cam and stood directly in front of Massie. "Got any food?" he mumbled.

"Way to invite yourself in," she giggled. "The pantry is that way." Cam and Derrick nearly tripped over themselves as they scrambled towards the roomy kitchen. Kristen trudged in last.

"Sorry that they came too," she apologized. "We've all known each other since we were potty-trained. So I kinda had to bring them. Plus they've been dying to talk to you."

Massie grinned. "Oh, I don't mind." Kristen shot her a knowing look. Massie rolled her eyes and dragged Kristen upstairs.

Kristen's light blue eyes widened at the sight of Massie's luggage: three blue footlockers, a giant black wheelie suitcase, a huge duffel bag, one Lilly Pulitzer gym bag, and her Lilly carry-on.

"Mom would take me shopping when I got too depressed," Massie explained. "Retail therapy and all that. Is it lame that it actually kind of worked?"

"Holy crap," Cam gasped as he and Derrick arrived in Massie's new bedroom, licking fudgesicles and apprehensively eyeing Massie's seven pieces of luggage.

"Don't you dare drip chocolate on my new rug," Massie snapped, glaring at the chocolate stains accumulating around Derrick's mouth. He grinned back at her. Massie tried desperately not to think about her heart, which was beating at a ridiculous frequency.

"Hey, she should come to Claire's Friday night sleepovers," Cam suggested while Kristen and Massie began pulling out clothes and stuffing them in dressers, closets and under the bed.

Derrick grabbed a lacy purple thong of Massie's and stuck it on his head. "Hey, yeah, you should! It'd be fun!"

Kristen slapped him upside the head and yanked the thong off of his head. "That's for Claire to decide."

Massie looked up, her light brown brows crinkled. "Is New York really as exclusive, East Coast, Ivy League, I've-got-a-silver-spoon-up-my-ass as I thought it was?" she asked. Cam, Derrick, and Kristen burst out laughing, but in a knowing way.

"To be honest, yes, it is," Cam explained. "Everything here is super exclusive, from getting into private school to Claire's Friday night sleepovers to the Legacy." Derrick punched Cam in the arm and Kristen reached out a hand to slap his head.

"What?" Cam whined, rubbing his arm. "Oh…"

Massie's eyes narrowed with suspicion. Kristen's emails had outlined nearly every aspect of life in Westchester, but the Legacy had gone unmentioned.

"I really don't know if I can explain it to you," Kristen said sheepishly. "My pledge chair would kill me if she knew I was telling a potential about how it all works."

"Don't be vague, she's your best friend," Cam snapped. "So basically, there's this party—"

"It's not _a party_," Derrick cut Cam off as he tossed a couple of t-shirts into Massie's closet. "It's _the party_."

"Guys!" Kristen hissed. "Do you really not give a shit what your pledge master will do when he finds out what you're telling her?"

"Our pledge master is Cam's older brother," Derrick retorted. "Chill. And besides, Massie's dad was on Scout Team."

"Would someone like to explain what any of this means?" Massie asked, her voice rising louder than she had intended.

"So the Westchester high schools are pretty notorious for having sororities and fraternities," Kristen explained. "At Briarwood there's the Jets and the Dolls, at Rye there's the Debs and the Bones, the list goes on and on. At OCD we have Tri-Theta and Scout Team. At the beginning of freshman year at OCD, if you have family in the Westchester area that's gone back at least three generations, you'll get tapped by Tri-Theta or Scout Team, depending on your gender. The organization then rushes you and sees how you party and how well you keep up your grades. Unless you're a real fuckup, they give you an acceptance letter and you begin pledging. We get initiated in February, just in time for the Legacy in March, which is this huge party exclusive to Westchester sororities and fraternities."

"Each year, the Legacy is hosted by a different sorority, and Tri-Theta is planning it this year," Derrick said.

"If your legacy line is long enough, you get to take a non-frat plus-one to the Legacy," Cam added.

"But the non-frat date has to be approved by the party host," Kristen said.

"So this is a party I won't be able to get into, clearly," Massie sighed.

"Not necessarily," Derrick said. "I flipped through the rush handbook while we were waiting at the airport. To qualify to be tapped, you have to have a parent or grandparent who was previously in a Westchester fraternity or sorority. It doesn't specify which parent. So even though Massie's mom wasn't a Tri-Theta or a Deb or whatever, her dad was on Scout Team. So she could go through deferred rush."

"Derrick Harrington, you are a genius," Kristen declared, immediately reaching for her phone.

"I don't know if that's for me," Massie murmured. She had spent enough time around sorority girls in Florida to know better than to get mixed up in a high school version.

"Trust me, it is," Cam said.

"I just texted Leticia Rivera," Kristen announced. "She's going to double-check the rush handbook and then get in touch with our rush chair. You may as well tag along with me to the next pledge meeting because you're practically in."

"Rivera?" Massie asked. "Like Alicia Rivera from your emails? The dumb girl?"

Derrick and Cam burst out laughing. Kristen just gave Massie a sad smile.

"Leticia is the president of Tri-Theta, and Alicia is her younger sister," Kristen said. "And Alicia hangs out exclusively with Olivia Ryan, who's the leader of our pledge class. Which means if you want your acceptance, you're going to have to get on their good side. And that is so, so much easier said than done."


	3. Chapter 3

Claire Lyons was popular, sure, but she didn't hold a candle to Olivia Ryan. With her stick-straight blonde hair, ice blue eyes, flawless porcelain skin, and ski-slope nose, Olivia exuded perfection in every sense of the word. Her Tri-Theta legacy extended back to OCD's founding, and Mr. Ryan had once been president of Scout Team. She ruled the class of 2016 with an iron fist and an imported Italian leather wallet full of Daddy's credit cards. Oh, and Alicia Rivera, gossip queen and resident airhead, by her side.

As charmed as her social life was, even Olivia knew that her position was precarious, and nothing startled her more than watching Claire Lyons's morning carpool pull into Ron Block's driveway to pick up a petite, wavy-haired brunette. She knew the girl as one of Mr. Block's granddaughters, but couldn't possibly believe that she had moved up here.

"Hola!" Alicia shouted as she skipped up the Ryan's driveway, scattering Olivia's thoughts. "I've got gossip for youuuu!" Olivia rolled her eyes as she stepped into her family's custom-made Escalade. The second she secured the all-powerful Leticia Rivera as her big, she was dumping Alicia for good.

"Well?" Olivia asked, gently prompting Alicia to dish out the goods.

"Well what?" Alicia responded, a blank look on her face. "Oh! Right! Okay, so you know that brown-haired girl that comes to visit the Blocks, like, twice a year?" Olivia nodded. "She's their granddaughter and she usually lives in Orlando, Florida, which is about as tacky as you can get, but she got some sort of head injury in an accident down there so now she's moved up here to live with her grandparents. Her name is Massie Block, and she's starting at OCD today. And yesterday, Kristen and Derrick and Cam were at her house!"

Olivia's heart hiccupped when she heard Cam's name. Olivia had liked him since the last two months of 8th grade, and they had almost gone out after some heavy flirting, but Claire had had his heart all along. The two were guaranteed to go to the Legacy together. But no matter what Olivia had done to seek revenge on Claire, nothing had worked and she was fresh out of ideas. The girl was like Teflon: every bucket of insults thrown at her was simply shrugged off.

Olivia spent the rest of the car ride to school scowling, alternately listening to a story about Allie-Rose Singer throwing up at the Scout Team holiday party and checking her Instagram.

"Hey Olivia!" Claire called as Olivia and Alicia stepped out of their Escalade and Claire's carpool rushed out of the Lyons's white Chevy Suburban onto the high school's drop-off circle. "I want you to meet somebody!"

Olivia rolled her eyes. Claire had been a thorn in her side ever since their first day of Pine Parks Elementary School. While Olivia had been establishing her popularity with the girls in her grade, Claire had turned to the boys. As a result, even though the OCD girls attempted to emulate Olivia's style on the daily, it was Claire they really wanted to be, as she was the key to OCD's most eligible boys.

Claire dragged over the brunette Olivia had seen this morning. Olivia gave the girl the obvious once over, and the brunette examined her just as closely. The girl was pretty, sure, and those odd amber eyes would definitely make the soccer boys look back twice, but her shoulders were slumped ever so slightly. The girl was uncomfortable. And that was a weakness that Olivia could prey on.

"Hi, I'm Massie," the brunette chirped. "You must be Olivia. I've heard so much about you."

"Funny, I've never heard _anything_ about you," Olivia hissed. Massie twitched ever so slightly.

"That's okay," Massie replied. "Everything I've ever heard about you was never good. See you at lunch!"

Olivia's mouth hung open as she watched Claire, Kristen, Dylan, and the soccer boys drag Massie away.

"I don't think she realizes who you are, Liv," Alicia gasped.

"You're right," Olivia said with a smug smile. "She doesn't."

As she and Alicia strutted into the main building, Olivia fired off a few carefully-worded texts to both Leticia and her pledge chair. Massie was going to be destroyed at OCD before she even had a chance.

-x-

"She's going to kill me, isn't she?" Massie groaned as Claire and Kristen led her away.

"No way, that was awesome!" Derrick cheered. Massie gave him a small smile, which he returned with a goofy grin.

"It wasn't smart," Claire sighed. "Olivia is leader of our pledge class—don't give me that look, I know Kristen told you. She's also got Leticia on her side in most cases. But honestly? She's been acting like her shit doesn't stink for too long. Our pledge chair is getting sick of it and she may appreciate that you took her down a peg."

"Olivia's the kind of person that should really go through Scout Team pledging just so the hazing will give her some ounce of humility," Kemp explained. The group chuckled knowingly.

"On a different note, what's your schedule, Massie?" Kristen asked as she reached for Massie's planner. The group crowded around Kristen as Claire picked Massie's schedule apart.

"Let's see…" Claire began, tapping a royal purple fingernail against her perfectly straight white teeth. "Ah, you're on the Honors track just like all of us! On A days, you have 1st period Journalism with Kristen, Kemp, and Plovert, 2nd period History with me, Cam, and Derrick, 3rd period Yoga with Dylan and me, and 4th period Geometry with Kristen, Cam, and Derrick. On B days, you have 1st period Biology with me, Kemp, Plovert, Alicia, and Olivia. Will someone find out how the hell Duh-licia got into Honors Biology? Anyways, then you have 2nd period Language Arts with Olivia and nobody else, 3rd period Health with Kristen, Dylan, Josh, and Derrick, and 4th period French II with Dylan, Josh, Cam, and Derrick." Claire snapped her fingers, and Kristen handed Massie's planner back to her. "Not bad, New Girl."

"Now if you guys don't mind terribly, we have to go deliver brunch to our sisters," Dylan said before looping arms with Kristen and walking away.

"And we've got to go clean the locker room showers," Cam sighed.

"You'll be fine, I promise," Derrick said as Massie watched her only friend walk away. "The school is easy to navigate."

Plovert grinned. "Yeah, and besides, today's a B day. There's nothing like a full dose of Alicia Rivera stupidity first thing in the morning. She's part Spanish but she can't even tell you what countries border her mother country. 'Um, uhhhh, like, Mexico?'" Plovert mimicked Alicia's slightly accented slow voice, getting a chuckle out of Massie.

The group scattered, and with nothing else to do, Massie made her way to the science laboratory, which was slightly beyond the main building. She was bundled up pretty well in her Burberry trench coat, but Massie caught a sudden chill. She turned around and ended up face-to-face with Olivia.

She really couldn't wait for Biology to start.


	4. Chapter 4

"I'm sorry, but what happened again?" Hadley Durk asked, squinting at Olivia.

"I met Massie Block this morning," Olivia explained for the sixth time. "You know, that new girl that we're inexplicably trying to rush? So I was just talking to her this morning, trying to be nice, and she says that she's heard a lot about me, but none of it was nice. I mean, who says that to someone they barely know? Rudeness is so unbecoming of a Tri-Theta."

"And yet I heard that you told Kori Gedman the other day that if you wanted to be friends with her, you would have given her a bid," Hadley said, casually examining her cuticles as though she were already so over this conversation.

"So?" Olivia huffed. "She's not even a legacy. She's here on scholarship."

"Olivia, what are our three highest aims?" Hadley barked.

Olivia immediately straightened up and looked Hadley dead in the eye. "Service, spirit, and sisterhood!"

"Exactly," Hadley said. "And our sisterhood extends to those who are less fortunate than us as well as those we're rushing. According to Claire, you started this. You told Massie that you had never heard anything about her, so she retorted in self-defense. I'm giving her a gold point for a good comeback, and a black point to you for being rude to a girl we're trying to recruit."

"But—" Olivia protested.

"Just stop," Hadley snapped. "The girl's father and grandfather were both on Scout Team. Her grandmother was a Doll at Briarwood. She's in. So stop acting like a little shit, pledge scum."

Hadley strutted out of the girl's washroom, leaving Olivia with her mouth hanging open in shock.

-x-

Massie had to admit, rushing Tri-Theta was not nearly as bad as she thought it would be.

She had been officially tapped about a week after she had arrived at OCD. She had arrived at her locker on a Tuesday morning only to find it covered in purple streamers and bursting with purple confetti.

"That's it! You're in!" Kristen had squealed, hug-attacking her best friend.

Massie had spent the rest of the week lunching with Hadley Durk, the pledge chair, and Sydney Applebaum, the rush chair, in OCD's pristine refectory. She spent afternoons poolside in the Westchester Country Club's indoor heated pool, lounging with her future sisters. On the weekends they drove her up to the city in private cars and told her to get anything she wanted from Bloomingdale's. Claire, Dylan, and Kristen had been beyond jealous, as they were still stuck in pledge hell, anxiously doing menial tasks for their sisters in exchange for gold points.

The star treatment had only lasted for two weeks, though. On February 1st, Massie had officially gotten her Tri-Theta acceptance, painted her nails royal purple, and started baking brownies for her soon-to-be sisters.

The worst part of all of it, though, was not the fact that she had to pick up Hadley's dog's poop or clean Fawn Grace's room, but that Olivia, her pledge leader, seemed determined to send Massie running back to Orlando faster than she could say, "Mickey Mouse." Time and time again, Olivia had 'accidentally' given Massie the wrong pledge assignment, or told her the wrong location for pledge meetings. Massie had taken to ignoring Olivia's texts altogether and relying on Claire to get her to the right place at the right time.

"She's just jealous," Kristen explained. "She's had to work at her popularity for years, and it doesn't help that a lot of the neighbors judge her father for going through so many wives and mistresses. Meanwhile, your granddad has got this town in the palm of his hand since he anchors for News 12 and does correspondence for the Today Show. It just annoys her that it's taken less than a month for everyone to love you while she has to convince people on a weekly basis."

"People don't love me, they barely know me," Massie murmured, blushing.

"Oh, please," Dylan snorted. "You're the talk of the town."

"Not if Olivia has anything to do with it," Massie muttered, glancing over at the north end of the refectory.

-x-

Olivia's attempts to knock Massie off her pedestal had been futile so far. But, as always, Alicia had delivered, and Olivia finally knew how destroy Massie for good.

Alicia stumbled up to their lunch table, her eyes glazed over.

"Olivia," Alicia whispered. "That plant knows I'm high."

Olivia glanced over at the potted plant next to their table and sighed. Alicia had gotten her wisdom teeth out over winter break, and instead of selling her hydrocodone to the highest bidder like a normal person, she had taken to popping it in between classes in order to cope with the stresses of her honors coursework and pledge assignments. Most everyone was just casually looking the other way.

"I'm sure it does, Alicia," Olivia sighed, picking at her California rolls.

"The plant isn't mad at me though," Alicia said. "But…you'll never guess what I heard in French today."

"What'd you hear?" Olivia asked gently, knowing that if she fiercely demanded anything, Alicia would get upset and make a scene.

"So," Alicia let out a giggle. "So, uh, Kuh-laire was saying that Massie might not be able to go to the Legacy?"

"Why would she say that?" Olivia snapped, abandoning her gentle approach. "And how would she know anything about that?"

"Cookie Elson is her neighbor," Alicia said, naming Tri-Theta's social chair. "Kuh-laire said that Massie might not get initiated with the rest of us. So she can't come to the Legacy. So she was trying to think of boys who could take her anyway."

"That's so interesting," Olivia murmured, an idea cooking behind her icy blue eyes. "Hey, tomorrow can you cover for me during Bio lab? I have to make a Starbucks run for Hadley."

"No problem," Alicia said.

-x-

Olivia had casually managed to slip out of science about 10 minutes before the bell so that she could make a stop in her favorite washroom to collect herself and reapply any smudged makeup. As always, her flawless complexion and piercing blue eyes stared back at her in the mirror. Every silky strand of her blonde chignon was in place. She gave her infinity scarf a final tweak and declared herself perfect.

The bell sounded. It was go time.

Olivia casually sauntered into Language Arts, scanning the room for Massie. She found the girl sitting near the front of the room next to some B-lister who kept trying to talk to her, oblivious to the fact that Massie's head was buried in _The Great Gatsby_.

"Move!" Olivia hissed at the B-lister, whose already wide brown eyes got wider. The girl scrambled away and Olivia gracefully slid into her seat next to Massie, who put down her novel and stared at Olivia.

"Hey, Massie," Olivia said, trying to sound as friendly as possible. Massie's unusual amber eyes narrowed.

"Uh, hey Olivia," Massie coolly replied. "What's up?"

"You like to read, huh?" Olivia asked, tapping a glossy purple nail against the cover of _Gatsby_.

"Leticia wasn't sure about the symbolism in _Gatsby_, so she wanted me to read through it again so she could be double-sure," Massie explained.

Olivia twitched. Leticia had given a personal assignment to Massie? She adjusted her infinity scarf again and continued on.

"So sweet of you," Olivia cooed insincerly. "You know, Claire and Kristen and Dylan, maybe even the soccer boys, have probably told you a lot of crap about me, but I just wanted to let you know that it's not all true. I am _nawt_ a cold-hearted, er, female dog, and I really think we should get to know each other. And be friends." Olivia widened her eyes and tipped her head ever-so-slightly to the left, trying to seem as innocent as possible.

Unfortunately, Massie saw right through her.

"Yeah, you really wanted to be friends when you told me that my pledge assignment last week was to stand on the quad and wear a t-shirt that said, 'Sarah Palin for President,'" Massie snapped. "Well, cut the bull-crap, Olivia. Just tell me what you want."

Olivia's blue eyes turned icy.

"I heard that you're a little concerned that you won't be able to get into…" Olivia's voice dropped to a whisper. "…the Legacy because you won't be initiated in time."

"I neither confirm nor deny it," Massie said.

"Well, Kuh-laire is right," Olivia lied. "Leticia said you won't get initiated until April. No Legacy for you."

"Okay," Massie said with a shrug.

"But you can't get a Scout Team boy to take you either," Olivia said, and Massie's face fell ever so slightly. "Leticia said that wouldn't be fair."

"I figured this would happen," Massie sighed, throwing her book onto her desk.

"But…" Olivia began. "I have a little proposition for you."

Massie stared at Olivia suspiciously.

"I can talk to Leticia for you," Olivia offered. "I can convince her to let you go as someone's plus-one."

"What's the catch?" Massie asked, knowing better than to trust Olivia at face value.

"Massie Block and Olivia Ryan!" Mrs. Dinkel called across the room. "No matter how boring diagramming sentences are, I still want you two to pay attention!"

"Yes, Mrs. Dinkel," Olivia and Massie called back in unison, using their sweetest voices. As soon as the teacher wasn't looking, Olivia grabbed a sheet of pink paper notebook paper and scribbled a single sentence on it.

"Get Cam Fisher to dump Claire Lyons."


	5. Chapter 5

The image of Olivia's loopy script had stuck in Massie's mind like one of those annoyingly weird SoyJoy commercials. Get Cam to dump Claire? How the _hell_ was she supposed to do that, other than seduce Cam herself? Why did Olivia want Cam so bad anyways? Was this stupid exclusive party really worth being labeled a slutty, boyfriend-stealing backstabber?

"Massie? MASSIE!" yelled Claire, the irritated look on her face stating that this wasn't the first time that Claire had called her name. Massie slapped her palm against the side of her Jon Hart tote, where Olivia's note was hiding in a side pocket. Had Claire found out?

A couple of other students turned around to see why Claire Lyons was yelling at the new girl, but Claire sent their eavesdropping ears away with one glare of her fierce navy eyes. Claire beckoned Massie forward as if she were going to tell her a juicy secret. Massie leaned across her desk towards Claire's, her heart pounding. Cam and Derrick, the other two members of their desk-table arrangement in Mr. Myner's history class, watched on curiously.

"I wanted to know if you would like to come to my Friday night sleepover tonight," Claire's frosty pink-glossed lips whispered into Massie's right ear. Massie relaxed.

"Sure, I'd love to," Massie whispered in reply as she fell back into her seat. The second her butt hit the chair, she zoned out again, continuing to wonder about Olivia's impossible request.

-x-

Massie stepped out of her Nana's Buick and into the chilly night. The cold shocked her every time. As much as she loved being close to Kristen and her grandparents, she longed for her Rainbow flip-flops and Florida's perpetual summers.

On the outside, Claire's house was just another huge mansion in Pine Parks, their wealthy suburb. But inside, it had a homey feel and smelled of spaghetti and hot chocolate, not potpourri.

"Massie!" Kemp cheered from the front staircase landing. "You're here!"

Derrick pounded down the stairs and skidded to a stop next to Kemp. A goofy smile took up his whole face as he waved to Massie. She grinned and waved back.

"The girls are in the kitchen," Kemp said before being tackled by Todd, Claire's bratty younger brother.

"Todd!" Claire shrieked, poking her head out of the kitchen. "Go pick your nose somewhere else!" Todd simply laughed and ran back up the stairs to his room.

"Kristennn," Claire sing-songed. "Massie's here! Get the Baileys!"

Panic seized Massie's heart. Of course they were drinking. What else was she to expect?

And yet, as the girls poured Baileys Caramel into their frothy, homemade hot chocolates, Massie couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to drink with the rest of them. After all, she had only ever been shoved into the sober sister position because Ana had forced her to the first night they had ever gone to a high school party. And then it had just become sort of a thing. Massie was the one who didn't drink. The prudish girl.

As Massie scooped up the mug Kristen had prepared for her, she felt things were about to change.

"Don't feel like you have to drink any of it if you don't want to," Kristen murmured as the other girls ran out to Claire's backyard. "There's only about one shot's worth in here. If you want more, you can help yourself."

"What about the boys?" Massie asked, thinking of crushed beer cans and unwanted advances.

"They're just sharing a bottle of Jack Daniels," Kristen said. "I promise you, this is nothing like the parties in Florida. It's just a get-together. And the boys all have to leave by one, except for Cam, who gets sleepover privileges. It'll be fun."

Massie took a cautious sip of her hot chocolate. She could taste the kick, but she also kind of liked it.

"Let's go," she muttered.

-x-

Four hot chocolates later, Massie had forgotten what it felt like to be cold.

For the first two hours, Massie had just sat around the fire pit with them, listening to them tell middle school stories and relive their pledging nightmares. She kept refilling her mug, and the more she drank, the heavier her limbs got and the fuzzier everything became around the edges. Suddenly stories of Claire peeing in Saylene Homer's locker in the seventh grade seemed ten times funnier than they would have sober.

Most of the group had migrated to Claire's trampoline, but Massie stayed close to the fire. The boys had made a game out of launching snowballs into Claire's pool. So far, Josh was winning.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a dark figure tumble off of the trampoline and stumble back towards the fire. It was Derrick.

"Hey," he said, coming to a stop in front of her. "I've been looking for you all night."

"I've been right here," she giggled, setting her cup to the side.

"You know, I've been thinking," Derrick said. "You're like, hands down, the prettiest girl at OCD. And I'm sorry I haven't talked to you more lately, but pledging's been taking up all of my fucking time. But like…" His voice trailed off. "Can I kiss you?"

"Yeah," Massie blurted. "Yeah, you totally can."

It was slow and soft, and if Massie had to be honest, a little spitty. But pulling away from it, Massie felt as though her heart had been lit on fire, and Derrick was going to keep that fire going for a long time to come.

-x-

Just before one, an alarm went off on Claire's phone, and the boys began stumbling out the front door.

Massie followed Derrick to his bike, laughing as he made three unsuccessful attempts to correctly right it and hop on it.

"You know what?" Derrick said. "I'm taking you to the Legacy. Don't let anyone else ask you, okay? I'm taking you. I don't care what anyone says."

"I like you so much," Massie slurred. "Call me."

"I so will," Derrick promised, catching her by surprise and kissing her once more.

By the time she turned back to the house, most of the girls had already gone back inside. Only Kristen remained, frozen in the doorframe, staring at the spot where Derrick had stood just moments before.

-x-

Massie woke up a few minutes after seven, her hands shaking and her stomach rumbling with the worst hunger pains she had ever felt. Her mouth was sticky and stale, and her body felt clammy all over.

Groaning, she tried to push herself off her air mattress and make her way to the kitchen. A wave of intense fatigue washed over her, and she found herself collapsing back into her pillow.

"Somebody's a little hungover, huh?" a voice whispered in the dark. Massie squinted and found Cam sitting in the window seat with Claire curled up asleep next to him.

"Water," Massie croaked. Cam snickered and hopped off the window seat, extending a hand to Massie to help her up. In the end, he practically had to carry her to the kitchen.

While Massie sat at the island counter, Cam busied himself making tea and toast.

"You really don't have to do this," Massie protested in a hoarse whisper.

"It's no problem," Cam said. "I'll be doing it for Claire in about two hours anyway."

"How are you so cheerful right now?" Massie asked, gulping down her English Breakfast Tea.

"Higher tolerance," Cam explained. "Pledge tasks and liver conditioning from my brother Harris."

Cam settled down next to Massie with a large glass of orange juice. The two sipped in silence for a while.

After taking a cautious bite of toast, Massie spoke up again.

"Cam?" Massie began. "Say there was something you wanted. Like, really, really badly. But the only way you could get it would be by stabbing one of your friends in the back. Would you backstab that friend, or would you go without the thing that you wanted?"

"To be honest, Massie, the reason Derrick likes you so much is because you're exactly the kind of girl who wouldn't do that," Cam replied.

"Derrick doesn't like me like that," Massie said quickly.

"Oh really? Then why were you two making out by the fire pit last night?" Cam teased.

The memory of Derrick's mouth on hers came rushing back instantly. In spite of herself, Massie grinned.

"That's what I thought," Cam said. "Think over it, Massie. You'll come up with something."

Cam grabbed a piece of toast and headed back to the den, leaving Massie to mull over her thoughts.


	6. Chapter 6

Nana picked Massie up from Claire's with a knowing smile on her face.

"You know what you need?" Nana said, handing Massie a tube of Dior concealer. "You need a quesadilla, and you need one now."

"Nana, I could not possibly stomach anything other than toast today," Massie snapped, rubbing concealer onto the dark circles underneath her eyes.

"Trust me," Nana said. "I raised your father. Don't fight me on this."

Back at the Block Mansion, Massie watched idly as Nana toasted tortillas, melted Chihuahua cheese, and chopped up leftover fajita meat from the night before.

"Perfect," Nana sighed as she slid the quesadilla from the frying pan onto Massie's plate.

Massie grimaced and took a careful bite. It was greasy, cheesy, meaty, and miraculously, it was making her feel better already.

"How did you know?" Massie asked around bites of quesadilla.

"Hangovers love greasy food," Nana explained, taking dainty bites of her own quesadilla. "Of course, it's not good for your figure, which is why drinking much always be done in moderation." She sent her granddaughter an admonishing look, and Massie looked down at her quesadilla remnants in shame.

"I'm just glad you had fun, though," Nana said. "You're blossoming, Massie. And nothing makes me happier than that."

Massie grinned and popped the last bite of cheesy goodness into her mouth before running up the stairs to take a shower.

-x-

Squeaky clean and ten times happier, Massie collapsed into her desk chair and signed on to AIM. The boys—including Derrick—were idle, Claire was away, Dylan was offline, but Kristen, as always, was available.

**sexysportsbabe**: how are u holding up?

**massiekur**: feel like absolute shit. luckily nana made me some hangover food.

**sexysportsbabe**: good! yeah dylan & i just made a burger run.

**sexysportsbabe**: hey were u moving around early this morning? thought i heard something.

**massiekur**: yeah cam noticed i was dying and made me some tea

**sexysportsbabe**: he made u tea w/out being asked/begged? that was nice of him

**massiekur**: yeah he seems like a good guy

**sexysportsbabe**: just don't tell claire, she gets kind of territorial, u know?

**massiekur**: my lips are sealed!

**sexysportsbabe**: ur lips were on derrick's last night, if i recall correctly.

Massie blushed hard. Who was she turning into? Some crazy girl who drank too much and let boys drunkenly kiss her?

**massiekur**: yeah that happened haha

**sexysportsbabe**: do u like him?

Massie winced. She hadn't minded telling Cam so much, but if Kristen knew, she would never hear the end of it.

**massiekur**: yeah i do

**sexysportsbabe**: really?

Massie frowned. What was that supposed to mean?

**massiekur**: yeah and cam says he likes me back

Kristen didn't respond for almost a whole three minutes.

**sexysportsbabe**: that's great! i'm so happy for u!

Massie let out a sigh of relief. Of course Kristen was happy for her.

**massiekur**: so what happens next?

**sexysportsbabe**: he'll text u or something. mom's calling me. g2g.

**sexysportsbabe is away at 2:30 PM.**

Massie minimized her buddy list and grabbed her iPhone, scrolling through Derrick's Instagram feed. He mostly had Throwback Thursday pictures of him kicking goals into soccer nets, but every once in a while there was a filtered photo of him posing next to various girls from Massie's pledge class. She knew that Derrick got around—the number of girls that waved to him in the halls made that obvious—but she had no idea how much he flirted and hooked up. Still, he had told her that she was the prettiest girl at OCD, hands down. Cam had even told her that Derrick liked her, a lot. So that meant Derrick was changing, right?

An IM box popped up on Massie's screen, scattering her thoughts.

**Ooliviarryan: **waiting.

Massie slapped her palm to her forehead. With everything that had happened in the last 24 hours, she had almost forgotten about Olivia's impossible request.

Fingers frozen above her keyboard, Massie thought about her options one last time. Cam had said that Derrick liked her because she wasn't a backstabbing bitch like Olivia. She had no choice but to maintain that image if she wanted Derrick to like her.

**massiekur: **i just don't think i could do that to claire. why do you want him so bad anyways? just so you can use him then dump him like you do to everybody else?

**Ooliviarryan**: i always get what i want, massie

**Ooliviarryan**: you know what? if you don't do this for me, i'll just tell leticia that you're not interested in the legacy or tri-theta at all. that you just want to quit.

**Ooliviarryan**: you have until 2nd period tuesday to rethink your decision or you can kiss tri-theta goodbye

**Ooliviarryan has signed off at 2:47 PM.**

Massie's fury at the bitchy blonde was masked by a helpless feeling of what-should-I-do? With Leticia permanently busy and booked, there was no way Massie could get to her and make her appeal before Olivia could. At the same time, she didn't want to forsake her new friends just for her social status. She had reached a dead end, and her time in Tri-Theta was going to be over before it even started.

"I can't believe this," Massie cried.

"Can't believe what?" Nana asked, popping her head into Massie's room.

"How stupid and dramatic some of the girls in my grade are," Massie explained.

"Would a pedicure make it better?" Nana offered. "Your purple is chipping."

Massie grinned and grabbed her Michael Kors bag.

-x-

Claire was picking up trash in the den when her iPhone began to ring.

"Speaking," Claire answered, not bothering to check Caller ID.

"Claire, it's Massie." Claire frowned. Why would Massie be calling her? Was there a Tri-Theta emergency?

"Do you need something?" Claire snapped. She heard Massie suck in a breath.

"I'm having a bit of a crisis. And it kinda has to do with you."

"You vomiting from drinking too much is not my problem," Claire said.

"No, no, I didn't throw up," Massie said hastily. "It's about…the Legacy."

"One of the boys will definitely take you," Claire said. "You really have nothing to worry about." Claire didn't know Massie well, but Massie's popularity had definitely risen to breathtaking heights in the past few weeks. It was essential that she went to the Legacy.

"That's just it," Massie said. "Apparently Leticia is banning the boys from taking me."

"Where on earth did you hear that?" Claire snapped.

"Olivia Ryan," Massie said. "She said she could talk to Leticia for me if I did something for her."

"After all the shit she's pulled on you, you still believe her?" Claire asked incredulously. "I had dinner with Leticia and Hadley just last week. They don't care how you go to the Legacy, as long as you go. They love what you bring to Tri-Theta and they definitely want you there. They're probably going to let you get initiated with the rest of us."

"Really?" Massie squeaked.

"Really," Claire confirmed. "Now what ridiculous stunt was Olivia going to make you pull?"

"Don't hate me for this, because I was in no way going to go through with it," Massie began. "But she told me that the only way I could get into Legacy was if I got Cam to dump you. She told me last Thursday. However, when I told her no, she threatened to tell Leticia that I didn't care about Tri-Theta or the Legacy at all and that I wanted to quit."

"Do you have this documented?" Claire asked.

"Yeah, she IMed me."

"Perfect," Claire breathed. "We can tell Hadley. They'll give her pages of black points for this."

"Actually..." Massie said. "If you can just appeal to Leticia before Olivia does, I have the perfect revenge plan, if you're willing to go along with it."

Claire laughed. "Now that's what I like to hear. So, what's this revenge plan of yours?"


End file.
